I Only Need You to Care
by lovergal1227
Summary: Naruto has nobody. Until one day the most unlikely person shows him kindness that he has never known till then. How will Naruto turn out now that he has an Aniki? AU, brotherly SasuNaru. [somebody suggest a better summary please!]


**Neko-chan:** Hey, you all know that I don't like SasuNaru anymore, right? Well, this is something I made ages ago and I found it after digging through my crap on the computer.

This is brotherly SasuNaru. There probably won't be any pairings. If there is, it's going to be yaoi, but _not_ SasuNaru for Pete sake!

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto frowned as he sat on a swing in the park. He was alone…again. Surprise, surprise. He was always alone. Sure, some kids play with him once in a while, but they were always taken away. The adults don't want them to play with him. He doesn't know why the adults hate him. He just wants them to look at him, once, without glaring coldly at him. However, he knew that it was a feeble attempt to hope that anyone could really care about him. Even if Iruka-sensei and the Sandaime acted like they cared, Naruto has heard what others say. They say that they both of them are 'forced'. Forced to care for a 'demon'. So, maybe they are forced to smile at him to, forced to act like they care. 

_It's getting cold out. Man, I wish I brought my jacket…_ He thought. He hated that bright, orange jumpsuit he had. It was the only thing anyone would let him buy. Everything else he tried to get was taken away, the owner of the shop saying it was too nice for a monster. The orange suit was _so_ not ninja material. Sure, Naruto wasn't fashion obsessed, but he sure as hell knew when an article of clothing would only spell death for him when he became a ninja. Hopefully he would be able to buy more ninja-like clothes before he graduated.

"I hate this…" he whimpered, shivering pathetically as a gust of wind blew past him. All right, tomorrow, he was going to wear that horrid jumpsuit. So what if it was bright as day? At least he'll be warm.

"Are you cold or something? You shouldn't be wearing clothes like that at this time, it always gets real windy before the sun goes down." Naruto jumped in surprise and the six-year-old jerked around. He was always this way when he was alone. The slightest sound got him jumpy, so he could take off before some older teens start throwing rocks at him with their fathers behind them, praising them.

However, the person who spoke with him wasn't an older teen. In fact, he was barely older than Naruto. Black hair and black eyes, making Naruto recognize him as a child from the Uchiha family. That and the fan that was on the boy's jacket.

"Er…well, I forgot my jacket at home." The blond said meekly, wondering why this boy's parents weren't running up to him and telling him to stay away from Naruto. Said boy thought for a bit before smiling and he started to take off his own jacket.

"Then you can have mine!" He said with a cheerful smile. Naruto jumped as the jacket was thrust into his arms. "My house isn't far away, so you can use this if you're going to be staying out here."

"H-hey! W-wait a second!" Naruto sputtered, not used to this kind of kindness. However, the raven-haired child wouldn't hear of it and he started walking to where Naruto knew the Uchiha estate was.

"Keep it! I have a lot!" The boy called behind him.

"B-but…" Naruto's cries fell on deaf ears as the young Uchiha ran off, possibly to keep from getting too cold. Naruto looked down at the jacket, and decided to wear it anyways. He turned it inside-out, so that the fan was hidden, and that's when he noticed a tag sewed on.

_If found, please return to Uchiha Sasuke at the Main House of the Uchiha estate._

"Sa…su…ke…" Naruto muttered, testing the name on his tongue. He slipped it on, and looked for the boy again, then gave up when he saw that this 'Sasuke' person was long gone. Naruto really wanted to give it back, and, if he was actually thinking straight, he would have come up with the idea to just leave it somewhere so somebody could pick it up and return it, seeing as he was always chased away before could ever come within fifty feet of a clan estate.

But Naruto wasn't thinking straight. He was way too happy to do that. For the very first time, a child was kind to him, and their parents didn't chase him away. Now, Sasuke didn't exactly have his parents with him, but still. The feeling was still there, and it was enough to make him nearly skip to his apartment with a cheerful smile threatening to freeze on his face.

The next day, Naruto decided to wear his orange jacket. Sure, he hated the thing, but he was so happy about the previous evening that he folded the Uchiha jacket up and put it on top of his desk as neatly as he could, as if it were a treasure. To him, a person who didn't receive much even from the adults who were kind to him, it truly was a treasure. One that he would keep precious for as long as he could. It was a childish notion, but that was Naruto was at the time, a child.

_I wonder if I'll ever see him again._ Naruto thought while sitting on a swing outside of the ninja academy. It would be a year before the Hokage would allow him to join, but Naruto found it peaceful to watch as kids older than him became seasoned ninjas under the tutelage of experienced chunins. Speaking of chunins, that was another reason why Naruto liked sitting out there. It was because of Umino Iruka, who was one of Naruto's most precious people. Even though he was sure Iruka was forced to be kind to him, the blond was determined to earn the man's respect, a respect that he wanted Iruka to give willingly.

It was about time for the academy to let out, which was signaled by those who managed to sneak out of class early while everyone was crowding at the door. Naruto would wait patiently until everyone, including most of the teachers, left before he wandered inside to look for Iruka. Most of these children were already aware of their parents hatred for the blond, and all of the adults hated him period, so he knew better than to wander in while there was a crowd.

It wasn't long before the classes were dismissed and the seven to thirteen-year-olds wandered out of their classes. Some walked with friends through the village, others made a beeline for the playground, and most of the younger ones were retrieved by family members. It would be about another hour before Naruto could visit the chunin teacher, so he just sat to wait. That was, until, a voice rang through the air behind him.

"Onii-san, can I stay here for a little while longer? I'll be home before sunset, I promise." A familiar voice said. The blond boy honestly wasn't sure where he had heard this voice before, but, like I said, it was familiar to him.

"All right, but you better be home by then, or I'm going to hunt you down myself." An elder male said. Naruto chanced a glance behind his shoulder and saw a dark haired pre-teen walk off. He then saw the body of a smaller boy peeking behind the wall the elder left behind. Deciding it was none of his business, Naruto turned back to the building. Then, once again, that voice cut through his thoughts.

"Hey there! You're that kid from yesterday, aren't you." Naruto jumped and jerked around, finally realizing why that voice was familiar. That was because it was the same voice that offered him a jacket, not leaving any room for the answer 'no'.

Standing right behind him, was Uchiha Sasuke.

"Er, hi! I, uh…I didn't expect to see you again for a while!" Naruto said while slapping on a smile.

"Well, I noticed you on the swing and I wanted to talk to you again, but I couldn't let my onii-san see. He would tell Oto-san, and Oto-san always tells me to stay away from you." Naruto looked down sadly at this. "But I don't want to! I want Oto-san to be proud of me, but I always see you sitting alone at the playground. And if someone tries to play with you, the grown-ups take them away. You seem nice, so I don't care what anyone says!"

The blond male could only stare in shock at the pouting look. Then he did something odd, even to him.

He laughed.

He laughed and laughed and laughed until he fell on the ground, holding his sides in pain, but he just kept on laughing. Sasuke was beyond confused, but the laughter seemed contagious and he was soon laughing himself.

"What…is so…funny?" He asked in between laughs.

"I…don't…know!" That response only got them laughing harder, even though it wasn't that funny. Soon, they were both on the ground, panting and wheezing. Their sides hurt, but they didn't seem to care. They just laid there with content smiles on their faces.

"You know, I never got your name." Sasuke finally said.

"I'm Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!" The blond happily exclaimed, causing small giggles, but they held back, lest they go into another painful fit.

"And I'm Uchiha Sasuke. Ne, Naruto-kun, why are you wearing such a horrible looking jacket?" The dark haired boy asked curiously and bluntly. Naruto really didn't want to tell his troubles to a boy he's only known for less than a whole day. However, something inside of him told him that Uchiha Sasuke was the one he could really trust.

"Well…I went shopping for jackets last week. I could hear the villagers talk about it starting to get a bit windy, so I decided I should use the money I got from the Hokage and buy a jacket but…" He sat up and looked down sadly at the grass. "No one would sell me anything. They either didn't let me in the store or chased me out of any store I managed to slip into. The last store didn't chase me out, but he wouldn't sell me anything that looked nice and was cheap. He said that…they were too good…for a monster… Then the man wouldn't let me go until I bought this ugly thing. I brought this month's allowance so I could buy some food afterwards, but I ended up spending it all…"

Sasuke was looking at him in a mixture of shock and anger. But he calmed down enough to speak again. "What about your parents? Were they angry?"

"No…considering I have no parents…but it's okay. The Hokage gave me a nice apartment to live in, and he gives me money every month to buy food with. I can't ask him for anymore, because then I'm going to have to tell him what happened to the rest of the money, and he'll get mad at the guy at the store. I can't let that old man fight my battles for me so…I guess I'll just have to survive for the month. It shouldn't be that hard." He turned and smiled at the young Uchiha, but then he flinched back at the dark aura surrounding the boy. Sasuke jumped up to his feet, a determined look in his eyes as he looked up angrily at the sky.

"So you have no money for food? Just because some bully stole your money in exchange for such an ugly piece of fabric! That's just not right! Grr, I can't believe the low-down jerks we have in our village! It's a disgrace! Of course, I don't know what that means, but Oto-san uses that when someone make the Uchiha clan look bad, so it has to describe that man! He's making everyone in the village look bad!" He said, nearly screaming his head off.

"Ano…Sasuke-kun…" Naruto said with a sweatdrop at how scary the older child was looking at the moment. Suddenly, Sasuke bent down and pointed a finger at Naruto's face so close that it was almost touching the blond boy's nose.

"That settles it! I'm going to be your aniki and you're going to be my otouto!" He declared, causing Naruto to fall back in surprise.

"W-what?!" He shouted.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm your aniki from now on! If you don't have any parents, then someone is going to have to take care of you, and it's obvious you're younger than me. So I'm going to be your aniki, because I was always told that older brothers take care of their younger brothers and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" He crossed his arms with a huff, showing that there wasn't going to be any arguments.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but-" Naruto stuttered, still trying not to accept his fate as the little brother to a really terrifying boy.

"No buts! Come on, otouto! We're going to that shop and I'm going to yell at that man for making you pay all that money."

"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto cried as Sasuke grabbed his wrist.

"It's 'aniki' to you, otouto!"

"Aniki, then!"

"Yes?"

"Don't you have to be home before sunset?" Sasuke looked up at the sky. They hadn't realized how long they were out for, and the sun was already begging to set.

"Darn it! Okay, new plan. I'll walk you home, and then I'll pick you up at about nine so we can then go yell at the man!" He said while tugging at the blonde's wrist again. "Where do you live, otouto?"

"Er, down the street over th…wait a second! Stop! I'm not supposed to tell you that! Stop it! Let me go, aniki!!!!!"

During all the fussing and arguing, Naruto, himself, didn't notice how the word so easily slid off of his tongue.

They never went back to that shop, because the blond refused to say who sold him the jacket. Even so, Sasuke came to Naruto's small apartment every morning and they played for a little while until it was time for the Uchiha to go to the academy. Even though he hesitate at first, Naruto was soon enjoying having an elder brother, even if said brother seemed to be a bit on the insane side.

Sasuke had thought it would be best that his family didn't know about their brotherly relationship, not wanting his father to storm into Naruto's apartment to tell the boy never to come near his son again. So, they mostly spent their time together in Naruto's apartment, or in the playground that the blond always went to, but the villagers told their kids to stay away from. No one saw them, so they were able to have fun in peace.

It wasn't long before Naruto started at the ninja academy. The Uchiha had taken note that most of the teachers refused to help the boy. If he made a mistake, they just scoffed at him and muttered 'serves you right'. If he did it right, they would call it luck and focus on another student. That really made Sasuke mad and Naruto could barely hold him back from yelling at the teachers.

After that, Sasuke began teaching him, although it was hard with his own limited knowledge. He told Naruto that he would ask for training from his own elder brother, to see what he would need to teach his blond otouto and how to teach it. However, it was rare for Itachi to say yes, and it was super rare for the elder male to actually follow up on that promise. Even so, Sasuke watched the other kids as they messed up and were instructed by their teachers, using those same instructions to guide his otouto when they went their separate ways from the academy, but ended up at a clearing in the forest where Sasuke agreed to help him.

"Otouto, I need to go home now!" Sasuke said after another day of training. They were both a bit winded, but Naruto was smiling brilliantly after finally hitting the target with his shiruken. Sasuke was happy too, but he felt a small pang of disappointment. It may have sounded selfish of him, but he had really hoped Naruto would remember what day it was…

"Ano…Aniki?" The dark haired boy turned around and looked at Naruto, who was fidgeting nervously.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked. Naruto had something hidden behind his back and looked like he was a bit embarrassed.

"C-close your eyes and hold out your hand." He ordered gently. Sasuke was taken aback by this, but he trusted his otouto, so he did as he was asked. There was a moment of silence before he heard Naruto walk up to him. Then, an extra weight was added onto his hand. "Open your eyes now."

Onyx eyes opened, and then widened at the item in his hands.

It was a golden kunai, one that he had been eyeing for a while now, but never had enough money to get. He knew he could always ask his parents to get it for him, but he never really got a chance. The kunai was extremely smooth and it shone in the moonlight. Upon closer inspection, he could see that his name was engraved into the hilt, and there was a small tag connected to it.

_"Happy birthday, Aniki! Love, Naruto."_

_So he did remember._ Sasuke smiled widely, not at the gift, but the fact that Naruto must have had to sacrifice so much just to get enough money for it and the engraving.

"Thank you so much, otouto. I'll always keep this precious to me." He said and the blond smiled even wider at the thanks. "But how did you afford it? This must have cost so much."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I saw you looking at that a few months ago, and I thought about how good it would be if you got that for your birthday. I gave up ramen and I helped around Ojii-san's office and he paid me. I used the henge you taught me and I bought it, I even had enough money for the engraving. I'm…glad you liked it, Aniki."

"Of course I liked it! It makes me happy that you gave up something you really like and worked hard just to get me a gift. Thank you." His smile widened and he bounced next to Sasuke as they walked out of the forest.

"Aniki, didn't you say that Itachi-san promised to teach you when you got home?" Naruto said as they got to the entrance of the forest.

"You're right! I'm sorry, otouto, but I need to go now! I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" Sasuke took off, but he was still turned to the blond as he waved goodbye. Naruto waved in return, waiting for his aniki to vanish from sight before he went his own way to his apartment.

However, he just couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was happening tonight. Something really…_really_ bad.

The next day, Naruto woke up at 6 AM sharp. He usually didn't, but something was wrong, very wrong. Wasn't there something that usually happened at this time that he loathed, but hardly ever objected to after the deed was done? Something was out of place…something…but what?

_Aniki isn't carrying me into the bathroom and turning on the shower!_ As odd as it was, it was routine for Sasuke to come into the apartment and try to wake up his otouto. Nothing else seemed to work, not even pushing the blond off the bed. After much experimentation, he found out that the only way to wake Naruto up was to force him into a cold shower. Some would think it to be a lot easier if he just grabbed a bucket and dumped water on the blond, but Uchiha Sasuke doesn't like things easy.

"Aniki, are you here?" Naruto called, getting up and looking around. The elder boy was usually there in the mornings, so where was he?

_Maybe he had a party last night with his family and stayed up so late he couldn't wake up this morning…yeah…that should be it…_The blond kept trying to convince himself, but, the more he said it, the harder it was to believe. He hurriedly dressed, brushed his teeth, and ran out the door. He knew he forgot his breakfast, but he could worry about that after he made sure his Aniki was safe.

"Did you hear what happened to the Uchihas?" Naruto froze before he turned the corner onto the main street.

"Nani?! They were all killed? By who, did they find the culprit?" The young boy froze as his eyes widened and he paled. Did he hear right? Please, if there is any higher being, tell him that his hearing is going haywire and he heard wrong!

_Aniki…_When it registered in his mind that his hearing was perfectly fine tears began to well up in his eyes and his chest ached.

"Not all of them. One survived. The killer was Itachi! Can you believe it?" One survived, but there was a one in a hundred chance that the survivor was his aniki. Even through the pain, he could still hear the conversation not even three feet away from him.

"The boy is at the hospital now but he's hardly speaking. When he does, he starts thrashing around demanding for his otouto."

"Wasn't the boy Itachi's younger brother? I thought it was only the two of them. Did Mikoto-san have another child?"

Everything else was shut out after that. Itachi's little brother…that meant Sasuke was alive! A relieved smile spread across Naruto's face as he took off for the Hokage tower. He knew that they wouldn't allow him to visit him in the hospital, but maybe he could convince the Hokage to take him there.

_Please be okay, Aniki! That jerk better not have hurt you!_ Although Naruto was only seven and Itachi was 13, not to mention an ANBU captain, the highest rank before Hokage, that didn't discourage him from thinking of the worst torture he could put the Uchiha through (the most violent one his seven-year-old mind could think of being tying Itachi to a pole and unleashing a swarm of spiders).

"Jii-san! JII-SAAAANNNNN!!!!!!" Naruto cried speeding through ANBU, Jounin, Chunin, and various other ninjas as he took off for the Sandaime's office.

"Brat, Hokage-sama doesn't have time to deal with your stupid antics!" the snooty secretary said glaring down at the blond, who was aimed for the office door. He didn't want to throw a yelling fit, jumping around and screaming that he wasn't a brat and that this was important, only for a random jounin to drag him out by the collar of his shirt. He needed to see the Hokage. _Now!!!_

"OOOOOOOOOJJJJJJJJJJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, enough that many of those inside the building could have sworn made the building shake.

"Naruto? What do you need? If it has anything to do with ramen, it can wait, we've got an emergency." The old shinobi said opening his office door and looking out. Naruto suddenly looked down, looking a bit unsure all of a sudden.

"Can we talk in your office alone for a second. I promise you, it's really important!" He said looking up at the man pleadingly. The Sandaime could tell that, whatever Naruto wanted to talk about, it wasn't small. The blond look genuinely upset about something.

"All right, but we need to make this quick, I have someplace I need to go to." He nodded and followed the Hokage into the office. There was a small silence as Naruto tried to figure out what to say.

"Ano…Oji-san? Is it true? Is it true that Uchiha Itachi massacred his entire clan?" Sarutobi seemed startled, but sighed. Word must have gotten around already after everything began to settle down.

"Hai, but you shouldn't worry too much abo-" he was cut off by Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke! Is he okay?" Wrinkled eyes blinked in confusion at the hopeful gaze of the child in front of him. He wasn't even aware that this boy was acquainted with Uchiha Sasuke, so why was he pleading for the boy to be all right?

"Yes, he is, and he's the only one that is. I was going to check on him when you came into the tower screaming. Why do you need to know?" Instead of answering, a bright smile spread across Naruto's face, one that Sarutobi has _never_ seen on his face. Sure, the blond grinned constantly, and there were small smiles, but never had he seen such a large and honest smile on this boy's face. He could tell there was something going on that he didn't know about.

"Can I see him? Please? If you take me to the hospital with you, I promise to be real quiet and you won't even realize I'm there! I promise!" The blond boy said with large, puppy eyes.

"But what do you need to see him for?" Sarutobi was curious, but he wouldn't push it if there were something he didn't know that could benefit Sasuke and Naruto both in the long run. The boy looked down, not sure if he should answer.

"Ano…I can't really tell you right now, but you won't regret it! I just need to talk to him, please?" After a moment, Sarutobi finally sighed and nodded, receiving a gleeful grin in return. He instructed Naruto to stick close, and it was easier for the boy to blend into the Hokage robes with his pale clothes, which he had bought like he had bought the kunai, using a henge.

They had walked to the hospital, few noticing the blond sticking close to the Hokage. Those who did scowled at him in disgust, but hid the scowls when the man looked their way. As they went through the halls of the hospital, the glares got even harsher, and they stopped in front of a room where there were two ANBU stationed.

Naruto flinched when he heard the despaired cries of his aniki in the room. He couldn't make out what the elder boy was saying, but he could feel the pain his aniki was in and he had to grip onto the Hokage's robes to keep himself from running into the room. He heard the cries begin to settle, and then a medic nin opened the door and left the room.

"Ah, Hokage-sama, good. It seems that he is physically well, however, the trauma of what happened is affecting his mental health. Every once in a while he will start demanding for a non-existent otouto. Then he would…Hokage-sama, what is _he_ doing here?" The woman said glowering at the blond who was clinging onto the elder man's robes.

"His being here is none of your concern, Yuko-san. Is there anything else you need to tell me before we go in?" He asked sternly.

"'We'? Sir, I must object! The last thing that poor boy needs is a child running around his room! Just leave him out here, I'm sure the ANBU will watch him for you until you're done." She said, but Naruto had enough. He was going to see his aniki, and no ugly lady is going to stop him! So, before anyone could blink, he bolted past the medic-nin and straight into the hospital room.

He made a beeline for the bed, where he could see Sasuke sitting. The dark haired boy was just sitting there. He wasn't moving, but Naruto saw his reddened, swollen cheeks. He had been crying. A lot, from the looks of it.

"Ani-"

"You little brat, get out of that room this instant!" the woman said running up to him and grabbing his wrist. Naruto looked up at the women with a distressed face, but his head jerked immediately to the Uchiha when he felt a hand on his other wrist.

"…wait…" was the quiet plea, causing the woman to freeze. That was the only thing he said the entire time they were in the hospital that didn't have to do with his otouto.

"Yuko-san, let him go." The Hokage ordered. The woman reluctantly did, but Naruto's entire attention was focused on Sasuke, who was looking at him, but the onyx eyes were still glazed, as if he couldn't really see the blond, but he could tell that he was there.

"Aniki?" He said softly. Sasuke's eyes widened, and then his face twisted in pain. Naruto immediately flung his arms around the elder child and held his aniki as the boy cried.

"You're all right. I thought…I thought that _he_ got to you. Nii-san…he killed everyone! Then he used some weird form of the sharingan and forced me to watch as he killed everyone. Obaa-chan, Ojii-chan, Kaa-san and Tou-san. He killed them all, Naruto." He said, his body shaking in grief. No tears fell as he sobbed, there probably wasn't any left to fall. Naruto didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly say 'It's going to be all right' because it wasn't. It probably won't ever be all right.

"How could he?" The blond murmured. He knew Itachi, and, although he was a bit cold and withdrawn, he never saw him as a cruel person. A jerk, sure. A liar, definitely, but not cruel. Not cruel enough to do this and force Sasuke to watch.

"Naruto…we need to leave now. Sasuke-kun needs his sleep." Sarutobi said reluctantly. He didn't want to separate the boys now that he's seen that there was a bond they shared, a bond strong enough to take Sasuke out of his fog of pain.

"Don't leave!" Sasuke cried immediately, clutching onto Naruto's shirt. "Please, don't!"

He didn't want to, but that just made Naruto even more reluctant to leave. He looked at the Hokage pleadingly. How could he just leave Sasuke like this? Sasuke's mind was tilting off the edge, he needed to be here to help him. Leaving would just cause pain for the both of them.

"I'm not." Naruto said softly and his eyes connected with the Hokage's, giving him a defiant look. He didn't care if the old man had to get ANBU in here to take him out, he would not leave Sasuke here alone to wallow in his grief.

"You ungrateful little brat! You better show some respect to the-"

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" Yuko looked at the Uchiha boy in surprise. What was he yelling about, she was trying to protect him from that demon! "Don't you ever call him that! If you take my otouto away, I'll leave here and go to him! I don't care if I have to jump out of the window, I'm not letting you take the only family I have left away from me!"

Even Sarutobi was surprised at the blatant declaration, but then a soft smile spread across his face and he chuckled, earning surprised looks from the three in the room. "Well…then I suppose it can't be helped."

"Hokage-sama?"

"His mental health is our greatest concern, and the only one he has let near him is Naruto. Besides, it would be a problem if he jumped out the window. We're on the fifth floor. Naruto, if you promise me that you won't do anything to disrupt his healing process, then you have my permission to stay overnight." The blond smiled gratefully and he felt Sasuke relax, the medic-nin's protest didn't even register in their minds.

_Aniki was always there for me, now it's my turn. I'm staying right here._

* * *

**Now THAT was a long chapter. I may just make it a one-shot, or I may continue it. Do tell me what the hell you people want so that I don't waste my time writing some more of this.**


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